Google Employees Across the World Walk Out to Protest Company's Handling of Sexual Misconduct Reports

After The New York Times detailed how Google allegedly protected men accused of sexual misconduct, employees of the tech giant around the world are walking off the job.

On November 1, Google employees in India, London, Zurich, Dublin, and other international locations walked out to protest the company's handling of sexual misconduct reports, according to CNN. Many of the protests started before Google employees in the United States even got to work. According to a letter from the walkout organizers published on The Cut, the walkouts happened at 11:10 a.m. in timezones across the world. Prior to the protest, The New York Times reported that more than 1,500 Google employees worldwide were expected to participate in Thursday's walkout.

"All employees and contract workers across the company deserve to be safe. Sadly, the executive team has demonstrated through their lack of meaningful action that our safety is not a priority," the organizers' letter said. "We've waited for leadership to fix these problems, but have come to this conclusion: no one is going to do it for us. So we are here, standing together, protecting and supporting each other. We demand an end to the sexual harassment, discrimination, and the systemic racism that fuel this destructive culture."

The walkout came after the Times reported on October 25 that Google had allegedly protected three executives accused of sexual misconduct over the past decade, reportedly paying two of them millions of dollars as they left the company because of the accusations, while keeping another accused executive onboard in a high-paying position.

The organizers wrote on The Cut that they are asking for concrete changes to Google's policies to better protect its workers, including a transparency policy regarding sexual harassment and a commitment to pay equity.

In a statement provided to Teen Vogue, Google CEO Sundar Pichai voiced his support for the walkouts.

"We let Googlers know that we are aware of the activities planned for Thursday and that employees will have the support they need if they wish to participate," the executive said in the statement. "Employees have raised constructive ideas for how we can improve our policies and our processes going forward. We are taking in all their feedback so we can turn these ideas into action."